Why lip care is skincare & how to DIY

If I was a betting woman, I’d say most of you have a decent skin-care routine. Oh, sure, maybe you forget to wash your face before bed a few nights a week but, chances are, you pick up your good habits again the next morning.

But what about your lips? Do you think about lip care like you do about skincare?

Do you spend even a fraction of the time taking care of your lips that you do removing makeup, applying masques or carefully dotting eye cream with the pads of your delicate ring fingers like you’ve seen the pros do on YouTube?

If you’re anything like me, that would be a big, fat NOPE. I admit it: I’ve been a CLP (Certified Lip Neglector) most of my life. And now I’m full of regret.

Because your lips aren’t just gorgeous, dahhhling — they’re one of the most sensitive parts on your entire body!

And who better to trust my lip health to than Chapstick? As the lip experts for more than 125 years, Chapstick is changing the way we care for our luscious lips with its new, advanced skincare line called Chapstick Total Hydration. (And I’m here to tell you that it delivers on its name.)

(Photo credit: Kristen Recalis Photography)

Now available in Canada (yay!), the collection is made with premium ingredients, and that matters to me because I’m keenly aware how often my lipsticks and glosses end up as lunch. (OK, not quite but I’m a chronic lip-licker so I unintentionally eat whatever’s on my lips.)

Reading the ingredient labels from the various Total Hydration products, I’ve loved seeing things like sunflower seed oil, coconut oil, beeswax, argan oil, mango seed butter, shea butter, avocado oil, olive fruit oil, aloe leaf extract and raspberry seed oil listed.

And I really like that there are no rules. There’s no right or wrong when it comes to your DIY lip routine — merely choice. From the dozen or so products that are part of the Chapstick Total Hydration line, you just mix and match the ones you like best to create the lip-care regimen of your dreams.

These are a few of my favourite things… (Photo credit: Kristen Recalis Photography)

I tried lots of different variations for a few weeks, and ultimately came up with a personalized routine for day and night…customized for me, by me.

Here’s my Total Hydration lipcare routine:

(Photo credit: Kristen Recalis Photography)

• Morning: right after brushing my teeth, I start the day by exfoliating with the Peppermint Conditioning Lip Scrub (the perfect scent for awakening your senses before coffee). It’s super gentle so, as you’ll soon read, I use it twice a day now. This is a great primer for either the 3-in-1 Daily Moisture — a clear balm that nourishes my lips with nutrient-rich ingredients — or one of the Moisture + Tint There are three “tints” (I like Rose Petal the most), each of which is enriched with Omegas 3, 6 and 9 and create smoother, healthier-looking lips; perfect when you want to simply enhance the natural colour of your lips on a lipstick-free sort of day.
• Evening: Bring on the lip scrub again (I love the way the way this stuff makes my lips feel!), this time in Sugar Plum. It’s delicious enriched with vitamin E and shea butter, and creates the best canvas for my most favourite product in the entire line — the Vitamin Enriched Lip Oil! Its botanical oils, vitamin C and grapefruit peel extract help transform dry lips into silky smooth, ultra-kissable lips. Seriously…if I could make out with myself after using this combo, I might never leave the house.

Look at that lip scrub! (Photo credit: Kristen Recalis Photography)

The best part about my new lip-care routine is that it’s easy, inexpensive and not so onerous that I loathe adding it to the too-many steps I’ve already got for the rest of my skin-care regimen. This is a 45-second add-on that steps up your beauty game to take care of one of the most amazing parts of your face.

Are daily lip treatments going to stop me from enhancing my lips as I age? Probably not. But it’s going to help ensure that I take better care of what I’ve got to work with. Chapstick’s Total Hydration line can be found exclusively in-store at Walmart Canada and online at Walmart.ca.

Remember: your lips deserve total hydration, so give them the daily love and attention they’re begging for.

Kisses,
Andrea

DISCLAIMER: Chapstick Canada compensated me for this post. However, they did not provide direction on which products to feature and use in combination — those choices and preferences are solely my own, as are all opinions expressed above.